


My Love, My Angel

by AppleScruff



Category: Jonas Brothers, The Beatles (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-11-09 07:02:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20849423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleScruff/pseuds/AppleScruff
Summary: A Scotsman to the bone Paul McCartney believes the boy is a fairy the first time he sees him. He has the looks and the charisma for it. Paul decides to take him under his wing and gives him food and shelter. Paul finds out that like a fairy the boy is incredibly musically talented, but unlike a fairy he has a dark past. A past Paul hopes won’t catch up with them and destroy their newfound happiness.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is a bit of a weird pairing but I still hope you guys like it. Paul is 26 in this fic and Kevin 20. No old Paul here.

As Paul wakes up to the sunrays hitting is face, he has no inkling of what will happen today. It seems like a normal day, a day like any other and nothing indicates that something special will happen.

He does his daily routine. He starts the day with checking on the animals on his farm and cleaning his house for a little bit because it has been a while since he done that. Afterwards, he goes to the back of the cottage and begins to work in the garden.

And hour after he has started to pull out the weeds, a little girl with warm brown eyes and short choppy, dark brown hair appears in the garden. 

The sight of the girl doesn’t surprise Paul because he knows her. She’s the girl next door who visits almost every day because her parents are almost never home and she doesn’t have any siblings.

The first time she had come to Paul’s farm, he had been surprised and worried because he didn’t know who she was.

She had told him with her voice that sounded like a small mountain stream flowing around rocks, that her parents owned a farm next door – her small fingers pointing at a house in the distance – but that they were never around because they had Mary and Stuart to look after the animals. Her parents didn’t mind when she visited the last owner, why would they mind if she visited the new neighbor?

Paul knew all too well how it would look to some people if he let a little girl stay in his house without her parents’ permission, so he brought her back home and told her to tell her parents they were invited to come over for dinner. He wanted her parents to like him before he could let her come over again.

That was six years ago and the brunette has gone from a eight-year-old to a thirteen-year-old. She has started to get interested in boys and wear make-up but she still comes over daily because she and Paul have become friends. He might be at the end of his twenties and she at the beginning of her teens but they have grown close and see each other is an older brother and a younger sister now.

“Hey, Callie. How are you today?” Paul asks the girl, his lips curved upwards to form a friendly smile. She is standing at the entrance of the garden and his watching the young male attentively. She’s wearing a yellow sundress that makes her look younger then she is. Paul straightens his back to talk to the her. His back hurts because he has been hunched over for too long. He wipes the sweat that has gathered on his brow with the back of his hand.

“I’m great,” Callie chirps. She swings her arms back and forth which prompts her body to move in the opposite direction. “One of our sheep had a baby again.”

Callie’s parents are sheep farmers like Paul and the little girl loves the animals even more than Paul does. She knows a lot about them too and has astonished him with her knowledge multiple times. It wouldn’t surprise Paul if she would take over her parents’ farm when she grows up.

Paul’s father hadn’t been a farmer. He had sold cotton for a living until the cotton market disappeared and he toke the job of a bus driver instead. He had never been to the country. He was born in the city and died there too. The city was enough for him.

But with Paul, this was different. After having lived in the city for twenty-one years, he longed for the solitude of the country side, so he decided to move. He sold his house in Liverpool and moved into a cottage in Scotland.

After five years, he decided to buy livestock and transform his house into a farm. The decision to grow vegetables and flowers as well came later. It has been the best decision he ever made – after the decision to move to Scotland of course.

With a steady but soft footfall, Callie ventures into the garden. Her dress whooshes with every step she takes but never get stuck on the bushes. She truly has the grace of an angel.

She comes to a standstill in front of Paul and looks up at him with eyes that still shine with youth but mirrors a part of his own maturity. Like every teenagers, she stands with one feet in her future while the other is still stuck in her past.

“Were you there when the lamb was born?” Paul inquires. He knows how much Callie wants to experience the birth of a lamb but she has always been asleep when that happened. Maybe this time she had been lucky.

“Yes, I did,” the young girl exclaims, her cheeks red with excitement and her teeth on full display. “Stuart woke me up when the mother went into labor. I was in time to see it come out of its mother.”

“That’s fantastic,” Paul congratulates his surrogate sister. He wants to pat her on the head like he used to but she’s too old for that now, so he doesn’t. “Have you guys named it yet?”

“Yes and I gave it its name. Stuart said I could name it because I was there when it was born.” Callie’s whole face is glowing right now, she’s that excited about sharing the news with Paul. “I named it Charlotte.”

Paul doesn’t have to ask why Callie called the lamb Charlotte because he knows why. The reason is beautiful and sad at the same time and makes Paul’s throat close up with emotion. 

“That’s a good choice,” he approves and squeezes her shoulders reassuringly. “I think your parents will like it too.”

“I think so as well,” Callie replies, her smile faltering a bit, only a little bit. The wounds seem to have healed.

Callie stays for a while and helps around the garden a little bit but after an hour she has to do homework, so she says goodbye and goes back home.

The garden needs another hour of work but afterwards Paul is still not done. His wood supply has started to dwindle, so he needs to go into the woods to collect some more. There has been a storm only three days ago, so he will most probably find a lot of branches laying around. He always only uses the wood he finds on the forest floor because he doesn’t cut down trees.

The sun is at its zenith when Paul walks into the woods. The trees don’t stand close together, so Paul won’t have much shade but the sun isn’t too hot so it won’t be too much or a problem. He’ll just have to watch he doesn’t exert himself too much.

Within thirty minutes, his arms are already carrying a big pile of branches. Most of them are rather small but because there are so many it doesn’t matter too much.

Still, he thinks it’s not enough and that’s why he decides to go to the meadow next. Around the meadow are a lot of old trees that lose their branches easily.

The meadow usually is deserted, not many people live around here and the people that do aren’t avid forest dwellers, but when Paul walks towards it today he sees that there is someone on the meadow. It’s a young man, but that’s all he can tell.

Something makes Paul halt in his step, despite his desire to find out what the young man looks like. He doesn’t know what it is, but for some reason it feels like he would be disturbing something if he tries to come closer.

But there’s also a burning curiosity that make his limbs ache to move and after a while it wins from his hesitation.

Paul is able to reach the meadow without disturbing the other man who’s, Paul can see now, standing in front of a bush full of berries and is plucking them from their branches and is eating them. He isn’t aware that someone is stalking towards him.

At the edge of the meadow, Paul comes to a standstill and watches the young boy, his heartbeat irregular in his chest. If Paul had to guess his age, he’d say around twenty. It’d could be that he’s still a teenager. 

The young man is covered in mud and his clothes are torn and dirty. His pale skin is covered in scratches but for some reason it looks smooth as well. His hair is brown and curly and tangled in a way that seems really painful. It seems he has lived in the wild for quite some time.

Paul feels sorry for him. What kind of horrible thing happened him to have driven him to live like this? Or did his parents decide to live this way and he doesn’t know any better? Some people are really crazy, so it is a possibility. Maybe he should try to talk to the man?

Words that wanted to leave Paul’s mouth, get caught in his throat when the man with his chocolate curls suddenly begins to sing. His voice is soft and airy and nothing like Paul has ever heard before.

The voice flowing over the meadow has something magical about it and captivates all of Paul’s attention. The sounds of the birds have become mute to the older male’s ears and all he can hear is the falsetto voice of the boy.

When Paul grew up, he heard about pixies and fairies even though his parents lived in the city. His mother told him about how they had sweet, magic voices that enchanted mortals and made them do all kinds of weird things.

Sometimes, they got humans killed, but that was never their attention. They just wanted to play and sometimes they forgot the extent of their power.

The stories had scared him back then – from time to time his mother used this fear to make him eat his vegetables – but over time he had grown out of that fear and had stopped believing in magical creatures. Fairies was for children to believe in, there was no place for them in the grown-up world.

But could it be that fairies do exist after all because this boy in the meadow can’t be anything but a creature from the other realm. The way he is dressed, the way the sun makes his pale skin glow or that voice, it’s not possible he’s human.

The fairy seems to have eaten enough berries, because he stops picking them from the bushes. He retracts his hands from the green foliage, most likely leave a red trail of berry juice behind even though Paul can´t see it from where he´s standing.

Suddenly, the male creature turns his head and Paul doesn´t have the time to duck behind a tree to try to hide himself. All he can do, is stand there like a deer caught in headlights as the other looks at him with big eyes. He seems just as shocked about catching Paul staring at him as Paul feels about being caught doing it. It seems this fairy is human shy.

The need to say something starts to climb up Paul´s chest but before it can come out of his mouth, the fairy turns around in a flash and runs away. He disappears behind the trees and it´s too late for Paul to stop him. Whatever the young man was, he is gone now.


	2. 2

The man with the matted curls and caramel eyes doesn’t leave Paul’s head the night that follows. He keeps seeing the fairy man in front of his mind’s eye and every time he appears, he looks even more otherworld like. There’s the magical glow in his eyes, the way he’s skin glowed when the rays of sun had kissed it, the grace with which he moved. He couldn’t be human.

When Paul wakes the next day, he opens his eyes with the idea of searching for the fairy on the forefront of his mind. He wants to see the beautiful man again and maybe try to talk to him. Is it possible for a human to initiate the contact with a fairy or does the fairy has to do that?

Paul hasn’t forgotten the stories his mother told him, of course, but Paul is convinced the fairy won’t hurt him. He had looked so innocent in the clearing and when he saw that Paul was watching him it had been fear in his eyes rather than a mischievous glint. There was no way the man could be evil, rather he was pure and unspoiled.

That day, Paul hurries with his morning ritual. He doesn’t bother with eating his sandwich before checking on his animals because he can do both at the same time. Luckily for him, no born lams had been born that night, so he doesn’t have to check any newborn sheep if they’re healthy. He is finished within half an hour.

There is no rush with the garden – the weeds won’t have grown much at the end of the day, Paul can weed out the unwanted plants tomorrow. It won’t harm the vegetables or the flowers.

He’s sure Callie isn’t coming by today because she told him the day before she and her parents are going into town for her birthday. He doesn’t have to stay home to entertain her, which means he can go to the woods as early as he likes.

Paul doesn’t take a coat with him when he leaves the farm to go to the woods. It’s a nice spring day with a warm sun and a breeze that doesn’t feel too cold. His black shirt will be enough to keep him warm.

The birds twitter from where they’re perched on branches as Paul enters the woods. The creatures of the woods are too busy with their daily business to pay the familiar intruder any mind. They have seen him enough times to have accepted him.

As Paul walks through the woods, the idea that the fairy might not be at the clearing dawns on him There is no guarantee that he will be there now or if he will ever be now that Paul has seen him.

Maybe he has scared the creature away yesterday and it now never wants to come back to that big patch of grass ever again? What if it had fled the woods altogether?

Paul hadn’t needed to worry because when he reaches the meadow, the fairy is right there. He’s scavenging the same bush as the day before and like back then, he doesn’t seem to have heard Paul approach because he doesn’t still his movements.

Much like yesterday, the older male is mesmerized by the fairy’s looks. He’s as beautiful and magical as he remembered and just as dirty, he’s still covered in mud.

Even though Paul has come to the clearing to try to talk to the fairy, he doesn’t try anything for quite a long time. He’s content with only watch the creature move and bask in its beauty.

But then it steps away from the bush and begins to walk away from Paul. Paul realizes he has to say something now if he doesn’t want lose the fairy again. He just hopes it won’t be too afraid of him.

“Who are you?” Paul calls to the retreating man in what he hopes is a friendly voice. He would have liked to have asked ‘what’ the man was instead of ‘who’ but the man might think Paul was crazy if he was just a human if he would have, so he doesn’t. 

The fairy turns around in a flash and its eyes are big as they meet Paul’s, its whole body tense, ready to run away if the person who has addressed it turns out to be dangerous.

“Who are _you_?” the fairy returns the question. The tone in its voice is guarded but not aggressive. 

“I’m Paul. I have a farm nearby. I saw you eating from that bush over there”- Paul points to the plant a few feet away without taking his eyes away from the woodland creature, afraid it will disappear if he does – “and I thought I should ask you who you are. Why are you living in the woods?”

The man once again doesn’t answer Paul’s question and asks one of his own, “What makes you think I live in the woods? Maybe I live in farm nearby, like you.”

The brown eyes of the man have gone from wide to narrowed and his stance has changed from scared to protective. He’s no longer preparing to flee, he’s preparung to fight instead. It’s clear he really doesn’t like Paul’s assumption.

“Because you look like a woodland creature instead of a human. You have mud all over you and your hair looks like it hasn’t seen a comb for years.” Paul doesn’t want the fairy to think he’s patronizing it, for both his own sake as the other creature’s, but he doesn’t know what other way to put it.

“Maybe I just like to play in the mud,” the man counters. His whole body has now turned towards Paul and its bending slightly forward.

Because of the new angle, Paul can now look properly at the man’s feet and to his shock he sees the white skin is matted with blood, forming a red layer of crust. It looks really painful. How did that happen? Paul though fairies couldn’t get hurt. They could die, but they never got wounded, his mother had told him. Could it be that this man was no fairy after all?

The man follows Paul’s gaze downwards and when he sees where the older male is looking at, he winches as if he sees the wounds on his own feet for the first time.

“How did you get those wounds?” Paul asks carefully.

The man’s head snaps up and pain is clearly visible in his caramel-colored eyes. Paul’s heart breaks for the man even though he has only met him twice. There’s just something about the man that makes him want to protect him.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t need your help.” The man doesn’t sound defensive anymore, instead he sounds defeated. “Just leave me alone.”

Paul doesn’t expect the man to run. He had expected he would have time to convince him that he did need his help but he isn’t granted that chance when the man suddenly sprints into the forest before he can stop him.

Paul yells after him to stop but of course he doesn’t listen and the older male gives up after a while. He realizes he has blown his shot at finding out who the man is – aside from the knowledge that he’s human, not a fairy – and that he’s never going to find out after today.


	3. 3

That night a storm runs rampant across the country. Torrents of water fall from the clouds and cascade down on the roof of the houses on the ground loudly before it trickles down the windowpanes. Only the thunder that follows is louder and every time it sounds Paul gets spooked, sometimes letting things fall out of his hands.

The man is on Paul’s mind every second because he’s worried for him. Surely, he must be drowning out in the woods. The twenty-six-your old male doubts he has a place he can hide from the rain pelting down, as far as he knows, there are no caves in the woods.

Paul would have gone out to look for him if he knew where to look. He doesn’t know where the man flees to when he’s done on the meadow. The woods are too big to comb all of it before the night is through.

But that doesn’t stop him worrying and he catches himself now and again waiting for a knock on the door. He has told the man where he lives, maybe the rain will drive him to his door. Maybe he’s going to come to his house and ask him for a place to hide from the storm. And Paul is going to give him permission to do that.

The man still fascinates him, even though he’s no longer sure he’s a fairy. If he’s human, he wants to know what he’s doing in the woods. It can’t be possible for him to be an orphan because unlike the middle ages, those who enter foster care always have a roof over their heads. It seems also highly unlikely he’s a homeless person, because they always stay in cities, where there are more people to beg money from. The man can’t be either of those things, so what is heinstead?

Paul is shaken from his thoughts when he hears a knock on the door. He had been waiting for that sound ever since the rain had started and yet it has taken him by surprise.

He immediately makes for the door and opens it, a harsh gust of wind making him flinch as it hits his face. He really should have been prepared for that, after all, there is a storm raging outside.

It is the man’s voice he hears before he sees him because he’s blinded by the water in his eyes and he needs to rub his eyelids to make them work properly again.

“Can I take shelter here?” The man’s voice is frail and so unlike the strong one he used on the meadow. Yes, he had been scared but there had been strength in his voice. It must be that he’s used to defending himself but not so much to asking for help.

The itch of the water in his eyes has gone which means Paul can open them, so that is what he does. He opens his eyes and looks at the man in front of him.

The man is shivering violently because he’s soaked to the bone. His curls are plastered to his face due to the rain and his cheeks, which make Paul think of chipmunks, are red from the wind that’s howling around the house.

Paul’s heart goes out to the man. He looks miserable and scared for some reason. He’s probably frightened of the thunder because as far as Paul knows, he has done nothing to scare the man.

“If you tell me your name, I will let you in. I can’t let strangers into my house.” Paul doesn’t mean what he’s saying of course but he sees an opportunity to make the soaked man tell him his name and he won’t let it pass.

“Why do you want to know my name?” the man asks, his eyes narrowing in defiance.

“I want to know who I’m letting into my house,” Paul tells the younger male. “I don’t see why you can’t tell my your name, unless you’re running from the law. I really hope you’re not wanted for murder or something.”

Paul’s a bit taken aback when the man suddenly snickers and shakes his head in amusement. For some reason the man thinks Paul’s comment is funny. The smiles looks really good on his face.

“No, I’m not wanted for killing someone. I just don’t like giving my name.” The man sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “But I guess I can make an exception. My name is Kevin.”

“Well, Kevin, come on into my farm. I’ve just started a fire, you can warm yourself in front of it.”

The man, Kevin, hurries into the house as soon as Paul has moved to let him in. He dashes for the fireplace with a quick ‘thank you’ thrown in Paul’s direction. The older male doesn’t mind it too much because he knows the younger is just really cold and wants to be at the source of heat as soon as possible.

“Would you like something to eat?” Paul asks Kevin as the younger kneels down next to the fire. He holds out his hands in front of himself so they can be warmed by the flame.

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Kevin replies, his voice a soft mumble. “I haven’t had a decent meal in a long time.”

Paul heads to the kitchen which is in the room behind the fireplace and starts to prepare some easy dishes for both himself and Kevin. Paul has already eaten but he thinks it would be more hospitable if he eats with Kevin.

When the older male walks back to the living room, dishes in hand, he sees Kevin’s hair is a lot drier then it’d been half an hour ago, when he walked into the farm. His clothes however are still wet.

“You can borrow clothes from me,” Paul offers as he puts the dishes down on the table standing a few paces away from the fire. “We don’t have the same size but you’re smaller, so that’s not a problem.”

“It’s okay,” Kevin tells Paul with a shake of his head. “My clothes will dry eventually.”

“Alright,” Paul says, shrugging his shoulder. “Just know the offer is on the table.”

Kevin stays in front of the fire for another five minutes before his stomach starts to growl and he decides he wants to eat. He stands up from where he was sitting on the ground and joins Paul at the table.

Kevin eats most of the food, which is only logical as it’s meant for him but for some reason he refuses to eat the baked apples, claiming he’s allergic to them. As far as Paul know, people can’t be allergic to apples but he doesn’t press it because he’s not Kevin’s mother.

While they eat, they talk as well and Paul is pleasantly surprised to see how open Kevin is towards him. He doesn’t tell him anything about his personal life or why he’s living in the forest but he does tell him the way he lives there. It seems Kevin has lived in the woods for a long time because he has a lot of stories.

Kevin and Paul really warm up to each other and it generates a cozy atmosphere in which borders of what he’s willing to talk about keep moving further. Maybe that’s why Paul makes the proposition he should really think about before letting it out of his mouth.

“You can stay here if you wanted to.”

Paul has forgotten for a moment the question can come over as creepy as they only know each other for a few hours. “You can work on the farm and in return I will give you food and a roof over your head.”

Kevin seems to be tempted by the offer but Paul can see in his eyes that something is holding him back. Something makes him hesitate and that something is something that scares him. Is he afraid Paul is going to kill him in his sleep or something?

“I promise I won’t murder you,” Paul jokes, at least for fifteen percent. “I just need some help around the farm and as you obviously don’t have a roof above your head, I thought I’d offer you one.”

“I don’t think you have it in you, to murder me I mean,” Kevin shouts back with a grin. It’s the first time Paul sees his eyes sparkle and it’s a very nice sight. “You seem like a much too nice of a guy.”

“But ah, looks can be deceiving.” Paul wiggles his finger in front of his own face for comic effect. “There may be a vicious killer lurking under my nice exterior.”

“You use a lot of big words.”

“Why not use them if you know them.”

Bantering with Kevin feels nice and for some odd reason familiar. It feels like they’ve been friends for years when in reality they only just started to get to know each other these past few hours. Maybe it’s because Kevin has such a welcoming personality, at least what Paul has seen from him. Living with him won’t be too difficult.

And apparently Kevin feels the same because he tells Paul, “Alright, I’ll except your offer. You seem like a nice guy and I indeed have nowhere to stay. I’ll stay.”


	4. 4

Paul is pleasantly surprised to see Kevin sitting in the living room the next day, a bowl of some kind of food on his lap and a faraway look in his eyes. It seems he didn’t sneak out of the house during the night as Paul had thought he might. He hasn’t backed out on their agreement. 

“Did you sleep well?” Paul asks in a soft voice, as not to scare the man with his sudden presence. Unfortunately it doesn’t really work and Kevin knocks his bowl from his lap in shock. The sound the bowl makes isn’t loud because it lands on a wooden floor.

“Shit, sorry,” Kevin curses as he quickly picks the bowl from the floor, his head the color of tomatoes. Nothing has spilt on the floor. “You startled me. I didn’t know you were up.”

“A farmer always has to rise early,” Paul tells Kevin. He gives the younger male a smile before he heads for the kitchen.

Eating breakfast doesn’t take long and Kevin and Paul are ready to work only half an hour later. When they walk outside, the air is still damp with early morning dew and Paul takes a deep breath because the smell sharpen his senses.

They start with the garden.

Kevin is a diligent worker who is eager to learn new things and never complains. Paul had expected more resistance because he still remembers how he was when he was Kevin’s age – stubborn as a mule and lazy at times – but Kevin is very different from how Paul used to be and he is very grateful for it. A lot of work is done that day.

Carrie comes by around noon to talk to Paul and she’s surprised to see Paul has taken someone into his house. She tells Paul as much because they are close enough for her to be able to say something like that. She jokingly asks if he’s trying to replace her.

Like she’s been taught by her mother, Carrie is very friendly when she introduces herself to Kevin. She tells him she lives next door and that she and Paul are good friends. Kevin is reserved but friendly when he replies. He tells her his name and that he’s staying at the farm to work. He doesn’t seem to want to mention he lived in the woods only a day ago and Paul decide to not tell her either, it’s not his place to tell.

Carrie only stays half an hour and after she leaves, Paul and Kevin continue working. They have finished in the garden, so they head to the animals.

Kevin is really good with animals. They are calm around him even though they don’t know him and listen to whatever he says with his soft, nasal voice. Love from animals is something fairies have because they’re spirits of nature and it seems Kevin has it as well. The way the sheep gather around him and look at him with their brown eyes shows how much they adore him. They never look at Paul like that. Could it be that Kevin is supernatural after all?

After the animals have been taken care off, Paul and Kevin are finished for the day. But when Paul tells Kevin that they can return to the farm, the younger asks if he can stay with the animals a little longer. The older doesn’t see a problem, so he consents.

The first thing he does when he enters the farm is walk to the phone and dial his friend’s number. He wants to talk with Kyley about Kevin because she’s the only one he can talk to about the younger man and he also always feels better after they’ve talked.

Paul knows Kyley from when he still lived in the city. They met in high school and have been really good friends ever since. Most people think a boy and a girl can’t be close, not as friends at least, but Kyley and Paul are a living example of the contrary. Maybe it helps that Paul is gay and Kyley is in a happy relationship for six years. Who knows.

Point is, they’re really close and they share every aspect of their lives with each other. He had already told her about Kevin, though at the time he didn’t know he’s name, obviously. She had been the one to advise him to try to talk to him. She said it was the quickest way to find out ‘if the mysterious man was indeed a fairy’.

Kyley answers the phone after the second ring and greets him with a cheerful, “Ye’llo, who’s speaking?”

“You should really stop answering the phone like that,” Paul admonishes his friend, a laugh in his voice. It isn’t the first time he has told Kyley this. “It’s far too informal.”

“Well, I’m not at work, so why should I be formal?” the girl on the other end wants to know.

“You never know if someone from your work calls you.” Paul knows he’s talking to a brick wall, but he likes the banter.

“Nah, they never call me. And if they ever are going to, they’d call me on my cell. But, why are you calling? I doubt it is to lecture me on how to answer my own phone.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Paul confirms. “I want to talk about Kevin. That’s why I called.”

“Right, Kevin. How is he doing on his first day? Did he spray you with fairy dust?”

Kyley doesn’t seriously thinks Kevin is a fairy because she isn’t Scottish and was raised in a family where there wasn’t a place for fairy tales, but she doesn’t tell Paul this because she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. However, with jokes like this she lets shine through what she thinks about Kevin’s supernatural origin.

“No, he didn’t. We worked all day and he hasn’t goofed around once. He’s a really hard worker. He’s good with the animals, they adore him.”

“That’s good.”

“I guess so, it’s just that he acts weird sometimes. He keeps looking over his shoulder when we were working in the garden and he acted all jumpy whenever there was a sound. It is as if he’s afraid of something.”

“Maybe you should ask him. I know you think he doesn’t want to talk about it, but it may be that you’re wrong. Perhaps he just needs a little pushing to let him know you really want to know if he’s afraid of something.”

Paul tells his friend that he’ll think about her suggestion and the promise is sincere. He’ll think about it and tomorrow he’s going to decide if he’s going to asks Kevin or not. 


	5. 5

Paul doesn’t ask Kevin about his past that day as well as the next day. He’s still not entirely convinced it’s a good idea to bring something up that he has a strong feeling Kevin doesn’t want to talk about. The fear of upsetting the young man is what keeps him silent.

It’s not as if they have nothing else they can talk about. There are plenty of other subjects they can exchange thoughts about, one of them being expanding the farm – the building, not the operation. Paul wants to build an expansion on the west side and Kevin has plenty ideas on what to do with the new space that he shares with Paul.

It almost feels like the two men have known each other for years, even though it only has been three days. Maybe it’s because they click so well, having the same humor and laidback attitude. He makes Paul miss Kyley a little less.

Kevin and Paul wake at the same hour as the day before, but take a little longer to leave their bed because the temperature has dropped a few degrees since the day before. The Autumn is clearly coming nearer.

When Paul walks into the living room, he sees Kevin has started the fire and is using it to warm his hands. The sight makes a warm glow fill his body and his bones feel mellow all of a sudden, like the toffees he sometimes makes when he wants to treat himself. The younger man looks good, his brown hair and fair skin glow as the fire casts orange light on his face. His plump lower lip seems to stick out even more than it usually does.

Paul has accepted he liked guys when he been sixteen and undeniably in love with guy. He had been attracted to guys before of course, but he had never been in love with one before John. When he met John he suddenly had stopped eating – because his stomach wouldn’t let him – and had changed into a stuttering mess.

His feelings never amounted to an relationship because the older guy didn’t like him in return, he missed certain anatomy that his friend rather liked. Paul had been heartbroken and has tried to avoid falling in love ever since.He didn’t want to ever risk feeling that way again, ripped open because he let himself hope and his insides on fire because it had been in vain.

How would Kevin react if he knew of Paul’s sexuality? He wonders if the younger man would still want to live with him. Some people find it difficult to be around people who like the same sex. Could it be Kevin was one of them? Would he walk out of the house in disgust or would he suck it up because he needs a place to stay?

“I’ve already made breakfast for both of us,” Kevin announces, turning his head away from the fire to look at Paul. The firelight makes golden specks dance in his green eyes and for a moment Paul can’t breathe. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Paul forces the rattled look he knows he’s sporting, from his face and the corners of his mouth up. “Of course I don’t mind, it has been ages since someone has made food for me.” He has never lived with someone, so he has always made his own meals ever since he stopped living with his father. “But if you have broken any dishes I have to know now so I won’t get a surprise the next time I cook.” 

The stern tone in which he says the last part was meant as a joke, but Kevin doesn’t seem to get it because his eyes widen and the top of his cheeks go the color of hot embers. “I broke one dish. I’m really sorry, I forgot I had wet hands.”

Paul shakes his head in good humor. “It’s okay. Things like that happen to the best of us. I’m not mad. Just be more careful next time.” He does rather like his set of dishes and he would like them all in one piece.

“I will. I promise.” Kevin’s shoulders sag as his body relaxes and a careful smile slowly appears on his face. “Normally I’m not that clumsy.”

“Good to know. Let’s eat.”

The table is set with bread, scrabbles eggs, sausages that smell like bacon for some reason, cheese and two glasses with orange juice. There are also muffins, scones and what look like mini pizzas. It’s an elaborate breakfast that must have taken Kevin quite some time to prepare.

“I thought I’d pay you back for letting me stay at the farm,” Kevin tells Paul, while running his hand through his hair. His lower lip blooms red as he bites on it nervously.

He walks to one of the chairs and pulls it back. “Please, sit down.” He gestures for Paul to come to him.

“Aren’t you a gentleman,” Paul jokes as he walks towards Kevin and sits down on the chair. He could continue and say that Kevin must have had a ton of girlfriends but that would most probably upset the younger man as it has to do with his past, so he doesn’t. 

“I do my best,” Kevin answers with a smile.

After he has made sure Paul is sitting comfortably, Kevin sits down on the chair opposite him. They say grace, something Kevin wants them to do, and then they dig in.

When they’ve finished eating and have put the dishes away, the two men extinguish the fire in the hearth and start on their daily tasks. Paul and Kevin start in the garden again because Paul really likes routine. He likes the rhythm of his days to be the same, something he realizes makes him sound autistic but he doesn’t really care.

Callie comes by again when the two men are walking towards the stables. The sun has climbed higher in the sky and has decide to release some of its warmth, however little it is.

Dressed in a red dress that is really too cold for this type of weather, the blonde skips over to them with a smile on her face. Her mother must be away again because Paul knows otherwise she wouldn’t have let her out of the house dressed like that. She’s going to catch a cold if she isn’t careful.

“Hey, Paul, Kevin. How are you today?” Unlike the weather, Callie’s voice sounds warm and full of color. Apparently, she’s in a really good mood today. 

“We’re about to go to the sheep. Do you want to feed them?” Paul asks Callie as he smiles at her. The young girl loves animals and she’s always very excited when she can help with the ones living at the farm.

Callie doesn’t answer, instead, she looks at Kevin with her head cocked. Her curious eyes take in every inch of him. Paul doesn’t understand why she’s looking at him like that, she didn’t react this way the first time she met him and it’s not as if there’s something that’s changed about him.

“People say you lived in the forest before Paul took you in. Are you a fairy?”

Paul is a little mortified at Callie’s question. He might have thought Kevin was a fairy himself, but it’s not the kind of question you ask. Some people may think you’re crazy.

But Kevin doesn’t seem to be one of those people because he doesn’t look surprised, he looks sad, a frown creasing his forehead and the corners of his eyes turned down. It is as if the word fairy has hurt him for some reason. Paul doesn’t really understand though, unless…

“I’m going to take a break,” Kevin mumbles. He gives Callie a tight smile, who now looks at him with pity in her eyes, before walking quickly towards the farm. 

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to upset him.” Callie now looks upset herself and it makes Paul feel sorry for her too. She didn’t mean to hurt Kevin, her curiosity just got the best of her.

“I know you didn’t mean to,” Paul promises the young girl and gives her a pet on the shoulder – he knows she would never intentionally hurt someone, she’s too much of a sweet girl for that.

“Well,” Paul sighs and his voice takes on a cheerful tone as he tries to make the young blonde feel better. “Now I need your help even more, since Kevin is taking a break. The sheep need to be fed.”

As Callie and Paul walk into the barn, a piano melody starts from inside the house. The sound is clear for a few seconds before it’s drowned out by the sheep, who seem to bleat along with the piano. They seem to sing about the longing for green meadows and about the loss of innocence.


	6. 6

Kyley visits when the days have become even warmer. Working on the farm is harder than it was the weeks before because of the sun beating down on the two farmers. They take more breaks and spend most of them sipping from their lemonade while waiting for a refreshing breeze to cool down their body.

Kevin’s strange mood had only lasted a day, disappearing with the sun beyond the horizon when the night had come. At dinner, he had been cheerful and approachable again. He seems to have forgotten about what Callie had called him.

However, Paul hasn’t and that’s one of the reasons why he had asked his friend to visit him. He wants to find out if Kyley agrees that there’s something strange about Kevin when she sees him or that she’s going to say he’s just imagining things.

The work Paul and Kevin need to do that day is almost finished when Kyley arrives. They’re just walking to the animals, the last task of the day, when the brunette walks onto the farmyard, calling out for her friend.

She looks good in the sundress she’s wearing, the yellow color making her skin almost seem to glow. Her feet are clad in white loafers, no socks peeking over the ridge. The Summer fits her well.

It’s been too long since Paul has seen her in the flesh, so he doesn’t really try to stop himself when he runs towards her and takes her into his arms. She wraps her arms around Paul’s waist in response, apparently not surprised about her friend’s enthusiasm. 

“I’m happy to see you too,” Kyley jokes, her breath tickling his ear. “I’m glad to see you still miss me.”

“Why wouldn’t I miss you?” Paul pulls out of the hug a little bit and looks at his friend’s with confused eyes.

“You know, with Kevin and all. You now have a new friend, I thought it would make you miss me less.” Kyley doesn’t mean what she’s saying, but it’s fun to tease Paul. He almost never knows when she’s doing it.

The corners of Kyley’s mouth are twitching with suppressed laughter, but apparently Paul can’t see the small tremors as he responds to his friend’s assumption.

“Kevin does make me feel less lonely, but it doesn’t make me miss you any less.” For some reason, Paul hopes Kevin isn’t able to hear their conversation from where he’s standing in front of the barn. Maybe because he fears it might hurt the younger male’s feelings.

“I was just messing with you,” the brunette suddenly exclaims, startling Paul into letting her go and take a few steps back. Kyley laughs at his actions.

“That wasn’t nice of you,” Paul complains, his plump lips pulled into a pout. He now looks like a giant baby. “I thought for a moment I had hurt you.”

“Sorry.” Kyley chuckles while she shakes her head. She puts her arm through Paul’s and nudges him with her hip. “Of course I know you missed me. Meeting new friends doesn’t make you love your old friends any less.”

This is why they work so well. Kyley loves teasing him but knows when she needs to stop. It isn’t that Paul has no humor – you’d be hard-pressed to find a British person who doesn’t like joking or goofing around – it’s more that there are some things you can’t really joke about, in his opinion. Hurting people is one of them.

“Speaking of new friends, where is the wonder boy?” Kyley’s brown locks swish back and forth as she looks around for Kevin. She isn’t going to be able to find him, because he has already disappeared into the shed.

“He’s feeding the sheep at the moment,” Paul tells his friend. “He’ll be out in a few minutes. Let’s go inside.”

“Isn’t Kevin going to wonder where you are?” Kyley looks at her older friend with confused eyes, her eyebrows scrounged up between them. She looks adorable like this.

“Nah.” Paul shakes his head dismissively. “He’ll probably think I went back because I forgot to put away the gardening tools again. Besides, he knows how to feed the animals. He has been living here for a few weeks now. He’s a natural, the animals love him.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“Yes, I am. Now, come on.” Paul grabs his friend’s arm again and drags her towards the house.

When Kevin enters the house, thirty minutes later, Paul has filled Kyley in about the real reason why he invited her over – she had laughed at him for ten minutes straight because she’s a city girl and she hasn’t grown up with stories about fairies.

“The sheep are fed,” Kevin announces as he crosses the threshold, closing the door behind him.

“So, he’s an American. Why didn’t you tell me,” Kyley hisses at her friend, a look of faux anger on her face.

“I didn’t think it mattered,” Paul tells her with a shrug of his shoulder.

When Kevin turns around, his eyes fall on the girl who’s sitting next to Paul at the dinner table and for a moment he’s frozen in place, as if he doesn’t really knows what to do now there’s a stranger in the room.

“Kevin, this is my friend, Kyley.” Paul points at the brunette, who smiles at Kevin and puts her hand up in greeting. “She’s going stay here until after dinner.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kevin,” Paul’s friend tells the stunned man. “I heard Paul here took you in.”

“I work for my keep,” Kevin defends himself, for no apparent reason. Kyley’s tone of voice had been friendly. “I help around the farm.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Kyley quickly apologizes, always the one to apologize instead of calling someone else out.

Paul feared the worst, after the anything but smooth introduction, but the young man is pleasantly surprised when Kyley and Kevin do get along. As the day progresses, Kevin warms up to Kyley, who in turn listens to everything the man wants to share with her. Even though, he feels left out from time to time, Paul is rather happy with this development. They are both important people in his life, it’s nice if they get along.

When Kyley leaves that night, Paul walks her to the edge of the farm yard. Kevin is back at the house, doing the dishes.

“He isn’t a fairy, but of course, I knew that already,” Kyley tells her friend with a chuckle, while she pulls away from their hug goodbye. “He’s a human being, like you and I.

But he is hiding something.” The mirth has gone out of Kyley’s eyes. It unsettles Paul a little bit, as does the frown on her face. “I don’t know what but it must have something to do with how he ended up in that meadow. You should be careful, Paul. If not for your sake, then for his.”

Kyley’s words ring in Paul’s ears long after she has left.


	7. 7

The sun is shining bright when Kevin and Paul walk into the forest. The work was done early today so the two men decided to go on a picnic in the forest. They had been planning to do so for the past couple of days, but they've never had the time to actually do it until now.

Paul is carrying the basket with food while Kevin walks in front of him. Kevin had wanted to help him carry the food but Paul had declined. He didn't mind carrying the basket on his own, he is strong enough, he doesn't need Kevin's help.

"Be careful you don't trip," Paul calls out to Kevin as the younger man skips through the foliage that litters the forest floor. It's possible that roots are hiding beneath the blanket of leaves and if you don't pay attention, you might trip over them.

"I am careful," Kevin shouts over his shoulder just before he goes down. Paul is too far away to catch him as he falls flat on his face, bum sticking out. For a few seconds Paul is distracted by Kevin's behind - who could really blame him with an ass like that - before he jumps into action and runs towards Kevin.

"I told you to be careful," Paul reminds Kevin with a laugh as he puts the basket on the floor. He helps Kevin up as he stumbles back to his feet and looks the younger male up and down. The damage isn't too bad, Kevin is going to get away with only a few bruises. "You should really listen to me. My advice has always worked out before, remember."

Paul is grinning from ear to ear as Kevin turns his head towards Paul and looks at him with an disgruntled look. It's clear he doesn't really appreciate that Paul is taking the mickey out of him.

A few days ago, Kevin would have never looked at Paul like that. He never dared to speak up against Paul or let him know he wasn't happy with something. But now that he's come to realize Paul isn't going to throw him out when he disagrees with something, he had started to become less formal around Paul and more like they were friends.

Paul had been really happy with the development. He didn't want Kevin to feel uneasy around him because the farm was as much his home as Paul’s and your home should be somewhere you feel safe.

What Paul hadn't anticipated however that with the familiarity, another line started to blur. Over the past few days, Paul has started to see Kevin in a different light. He no longer sees Kevin only as someone he wants to protect but also someone he desires. He had always thought Kevin was cute but it has moved beyond that.

"You're right, I should have been more careful," Kevin mutters as he bites into his lower lip. The action causes Paul's eyes to zero in on his plump lips. The older male really likes the look of the pink flesh, that's slowly turning red. With lips like that, Kevin must be a really great kisser.

Kevin doesn't react to Paul openly staring at his mouth, instead he turns around again and starts walking. He turns around again when Paul doesn't move. "Are you coming then?" 

"Yes - right," is Paul's eloquent answer. A blush crawls down his cheeks and onto his neck in embarrassment. He starts walking as well and almost trips over his own feet. Thankfully, Kevin is walking with his back turned towards Paul so he doesn't see it.

A few minutes later Paul and Kevin arrive at the clearing they're going to have their picnic on. The sun is shining straight down, bathing the clearing in a bright light. The small insects bussing over the grass seem to glow. Kevin seems to as well. His brown hair and pale skin seem to shine as he walks unto the grass and sits down a few feet away from the edge of the clearing. It reminds Paul a bit of how Kevin had looked when he saw him for the first time. The only difference is that Kevin's feet are not covered in cuts and are wrapped in shoes now and his body no longer looks so thin from only eating berries for days.

When Paul is able to breathe again, he sits down next to Kevin and puts the basket in front of them. He opens the lid and takes out the blanket. He lays it down in front of them and tells Kevin, "It's probably better if we sit on the blanket. There's a chance ants will crawl into your trousers if you don't."

"Right," Kevin mutters. He crawls unto his hand and knees and turns his body so he's sitting on the blanket. Paul does the same and sits down on the other side of the basket.

Kevin helps Paul with taking the food out of the basket and laying it out in front of the basket and between them. There are sandwiches, fruit, small cakes, and sausages. Paul had prepared them this morning when Kevin had still been asleep.

"It looks really good," Kevin compliments Paul as he eyes the food in front of them. He turns his head to grin at Paul, apparently his bad mood forgotten because of the spread in front of him. Not that Paul's complaining because a smile looks really good on Kevin.

Paul and Kevin spend the next two hours talking while they eat. They talk about the animals, Paul's life when he used to live in the city and Kyley and Carrie. Once again, they don't talk about Kevin's past and it hurts Paul a little bit. He now knows Kevin is not a fairy, he's too clumsy to be one, so Kevin isn't telling him because of some magical reason. It's because he doesn't trust Paul and the older male doesn't like that at all.


End file.
